Randomized Phase I/II of RAD001 in Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)

The mTOR has been examined in hepatocellular carcinomas as well. This pathway is up-regulated in a proportion of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and that rapamycin inhibits cell proliferation and blocks S6K phosphorylation. Inhibition of mTOR had been shown to suppress substantially the liver tumor growth. Nevertheless, inhibition of mTOR was demonstrated to have a clinical response in some cancer types. These reports imply that inhibition of mTOR could be a promising therapeutic strategy in the treatment of HCC. Therefore, we hypothesize that RAD001, a rapamycin analog, can inhibit the mTOR, and subsequently suppress the liver tumor in the treatment of HCC patients. This study is aimed to investigate the safety, efficacy, pharmacokinetics, pharmacogenetics and feasibility of RAD001 in advanced HCC patients. This study will be a randomized phase I study with dose escalation and subsequently a phase II study of intent to treat, as well as pharmacokinetic, pharmacogenetic and surrogate marker study of RAD001.